UNICEF and the Global Goals

UNICEF is committed to doing all it can to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in partnership with governments, civil society, business, academia and the United Nations family – and especially children and young people.

UNICEF is the world’s largest buyer of childhood vaccines, reaching over one third of the world’s children. By forecasting demand, encouraging competition and engaging with manufacturers, UNICEF secures lower prices and maintains a constant supply of essential vaccines to the children who need them most.

Vaccines need to be kept in a narrow temperature range from the point of manufacture to their use in an immunization session. This is called the “cold chain” which is crucial to vaccine supply chains.

UNICEF invests in cold and supply chain infrastructure and management to improve the conditions in which vaccines and other lifesaving health commodities are delivered. These investments, including the introduction of temperature monitoring technologies, reduce vaccine stock-outs and enhance information systems for more accurate monitoring. UNICEF also helps establish the use of solar power, mobile technology and biometrics to safely get the right vaccines to the right places at the right time.

Stronger supply chain systems mean not only immunizing more children, but also improving the health system as a whole.